Remnants of time
by Rosopolopolis
Summary: It's been a year since the events involving deepground, and a new threat has risen. Will Cloud be able to handle an unknown enemy, or hold up against the memories of the past? And who is Genesis? Rated T for language and upcoming violence. please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

Remnants of time ( An FFVII fanfic.)

By Rosopolopolis

Ch. 1: Shadows from the past.

Looking down on the tattered ruins of Midgar, standing as a testament to the prices paid for all the sorrow in the past four years, A lone figure sat silently on the edge of the rocky cliff, in troubled thought. His spiky mass of golden hair swaying gently in the breeze. His brows furrowed in a concerned expression as he turned his gaze away from the Midgar ruins to look upon the memorial that stood sticking out of the sand behind him: the Buster sword, slowly beginning to develop rust and grime from four years of disuse. This troubled him slightly, but those thoughts faded with the fluttering of a cape beside him.

"Cloud, it's been a while."

Cloud looked up and smirked a bit at the man who stood before him: Vincent Valentine, his crimson cloak fluttering gracefully in the breeze, and his long, ebony hair spilling over his mantle to swirl gracefully down his shoulders and back, sticking out haphazardly from the blood red bandana that adorned his forehead. Underneath which, two crimson eyes shone with a mysterious light, like two piercing blood-red rubies that could bore into the soul, and though he could appear to be just an average handsome man wearing strange clothes in his late twenties to the untrained eye, if one were to catch a glimpse of those mysterious eyes, and looked deep enough, they would find that this man was not, in fact, normal. One would be able to tell that there was indeed something... wrong with him. Or at least that there had been.  
Now wasn't that an understatement.  
Those eyes carried an old soul, a soul that had been battered by sorrows, but had inevitably overcome them all.  
And, also, the razor sharp golden gauntlet that had taken the place of his left arm was a clear sign that he was different.

"Vincent, glad to see your still alive, you had us worried there for a second."

Vincent cocked an eyebrow at Cloud, they all knew that Vincent had a tendency to disappear without a trace, and this had been one of those instances. But, Cloud did have reason to be concerned, because usually when Vincent vanished, it was only for one or two weeks.

This time, though, he'd been gone for almost a month, and that had gotten not just Cloud, but everyone worried, especially since the events that happened with Deepground. Even though Vincent's overall attitude had changed, although very slightly, his disappearance had gotten everyone worried that there was more trouble Vincent hadn't told them about, since he had a habit of leaving out the details. Especially since Chaos had returned to the planet, and Vincent couldn't rely on it to save him in a time of crisis. And this just succeeded in worrying everyone more, even though he did seem happier, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, even if he did try to hide it. There was definitely something different about him. After Shelke had brought him back from Lucrecia's cave, he seemed to disappear less, and he had actually smiled at Yuffie when she was berating him for making her think he'd died, and THAT stopped everyone in their tracks, even Yuffie and her famous inability to stop talking once she'd started. But either way, Vincent was a bit confused by Cloud's concern, they should all know by now that he's perfectly capable of protecting himself.

"Worried? and why is that?" Cloud stood and brushed the dirt from his pants, frowning slightly as he registered Vincent's question,

"Well, without Chaos-"

"I have other means of protecting myself," Vincent said, patting Cerberus where it lay in it's holster, " Chaos is no longer needed." Cloud nodded his agreement, His Mako green eyes turned up to look at Vincent's crimson ones,

"Was there something you wanted?" Cloud inquired, knowing to well that there most definitely WAS something Vincent had to tell Cloud, he could feel it in the way Vincent was standing there, gazing at Midgar, all traces of expression lost in his profile. Vincent cocked his eyebrow and looked at Cloud incredulously as he crossed his arms over his chest, being cautious of ripping clothes or flesh with that golden claw.

"What, is it so unlikely that I'd actually like to know how a friend is doing?" Cloud chuckled slightly, Vincent being sarcastic was a rare phenomenon, it was even more rare for him to direct it at someone other than Yuffie.

"Actually, Vincent, I don't think you've ever done that, so what's up?" Vincent uncrossed his arms and looked across the canyon once more to gaze at Midgar,

"When I got back to Tifa's bar, we got a call from Nanaki, he wants everyone to head to Cosmo Canyon... I'm not sure what its about exactly, but it has something to do with what I found while I was gone, it was a bit... disturbing..." Vincent turned back to Cloud, waiting for a reply.

"... What you... Found? What was it? what's going on?" Vincent shook his head,

"I'm not sure, but I'd rather not explain it now, I'll wait until everyone's together. Nanaki asked that we make sure you're there specifically, though, so Tifa told me where you had gone. Cid's already picked up Yuffie, and Tifa met them where he'd parked the Shera just outside of Edge, so they sent me to get you and head over there once I'd found you."

He paused for a moment, going over what else he had to tell Cloud about in his head,

"Shelke decided to stay at Tifa's bar, she said it wasn't her business since she wasn't in the war, and Reeve's cashed in an old favor that the Turks owed him from way back, and managed to convince Reno and the others to fly Cait Sith out to Cosmo Canyon. They're going to stop in North Corel to pick up Barret on the way."

Cloud nodded and headed over to where the Fenrir was parked, he paused as he before getting on and heaved a exasperated sigh.

"Damn, take 10 minutes to visit a friend's grave, and everyone immediately needs you again back home..."

Cloud mumbled with a sly smile. He turned back to Vincent, who was once again gazing at the ruins of Midgar.

"Hey, Vincent!" Cloud called, Vincent turned and looked at him blankly. "You need a ride to the Shera?" Cloud asked, gesturing to the Fenrir. Vincent was about to reply, when the ground shuddered and began rumbling. Vincent immediately crouched down on one knee and placed his golden claw on the quaking earth, guaging the nature of the earthquake.

"Whatever it is, it's unnatural! It's coming from Edge!" Vincent yelled, barely able to hold his footing against the quavering earth.

"I didn't know you could do that!" Cloud yelled, clinging to the Fenrir for balance, Vincent glared at him as he ran to the motorcycle and climbed up on the back.

"There's a lot of things you don't know, now we've got to check on the others! let's go!" Cloud nodded and jumped on the Fenrir, tearing off down the mountain as fast as possible to keep the motorcycle from tipping over.

(***)

"Shit! What the hell is this?" Cid yelled from his spot at the controls, his blue eyes darting around the Shera, trying to pinpoint the source of the vicious rumbling that was tearing throughout the airship. The unnatural earthquake was tossing the ship and her passengers around like rag dolls, and Cid was only able to hold onto his footing because of the death grip he had placed on the sides of the control panel, his brown leather gloves slipping around the tiniest bit, but not enough to knock him over all the way

"Cid, whats going on?" Tifa called from where she was clinging to the handrail, her long black hair falling into her chestnut brown eyes with a vengeance as another huge shock wave tore through the airship, threatening to knock Tifa's feet off the ground and send her flying against the windshield.

"Like hell I'd know! Godammit, my ship can't take off in these conditions!" 'Well Shit! at least I didn't call the rest of the crew, I can barely keep track of me an' Tifa, let alone every-' Tifa's grip on the bar failed her, and she went flying towards Cid, cutting his thoughts in half as he tried to catch her, resulting in Cid losing his footing, sending both the pilot and Martial-artist sprawling head-over-heels across the floor,

"Godammit, Enough of this shit!" Cid yelled as he scrambled over to where his spear lay. He scooped it up and used it as a lever to stand, "I'll be damned if I'm gonna let some freaky-ass mystery quakes destroy MY GODDAMN SHIP! I'm finding out what the hell is doing this right now!" Tifa had been about to advise him otherwise, but Cid grabbed her by the arm and half-dragged her out of the cockpit. It involved a lot of tripping and face planting, but Cid actually managed to maneuver Tifa and himself to the cargo bay of the airship without too much damage, which was amazing, considering that the quaking was only growing in intensity. But, just as they were about to clear the emergency exit to the outside, a crate, knocked loose by the constant quaking, slid over and smacked right into Cid, throwing the both of them out the doorway to land with a thud on the rocky earth below.

"SHIT! Today just isn't my day!" Cid yelled, rubbing the sore lump that was already forming under his short, dirty blond hair where his head had hit the ground. Suddenly, the ground under Cid began kicking and thrashing, and an angry, shrill voice rang out

"YOU? WHAT ABOUT ME? CID, YOUR CRUSHING ME!" Yuffie screamed, pounding her fists on the ground and thrashing her legs against the pilot's weight. Cid jumped up onto the shaky earth, his boots crunching down into the rocks to keep his footing. As soon as he was off her, Yuffie jumped up and started frantically brushing off the imaginary germs from where the pilot had made contact with her clothes, "Oh, great, now I'm never going to get this stale ciggarette smoke smell off!" She groaned. She clearly hadn't matured an inch since she had met Clouds' group four years ago.

"Yuffie? What the hell're you doing out here?" Cid demanded as he helped Tifa to her feet, "I thought you were in the cargo bay." Yuffie glared at Cid furiously, her storm-grey eyes swimming with frustration,

"You know I can't handle that stupid airship, I was hoping to wait for everyone else to get here before I had to start puking my guts out again, then all of a sudden, this big-ass earthquake started, and I'm busy trying to stay on my feet, and WHO should come FLYING out of the sky to squash the BEJEESUS out of me but the notorious Cid Highwind and his fat ass?"

"Shut up! It ain't MY goddamn fault you were standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR!" Cid yelled, gesturing up at the open gate to the Shera.

"OH! The ALMIGHTY Cid Highwind has decided it was MY fault that HIS OLD ASS CRUSHED ME! I apologize, O holy master of all things OLD and STANKY!" She replied rudely, doing over dramatic bowing gestures to prove her point.

"Well, if you wanna have an attitude, you can just WALK to Cosmo Canyon, how's that, missy?" Cid said, crossing his arms in amusement at her insults. She fumed with anger at this, her face growing red with frustration as she pulled out her large Four-pointed Shuriken and pointed it at Cid's head, shoving one of the treacherous points less then an inch from his face threateningly,

"OH, YOU BASTARD! I, YUFFIE KISARAGI, THE MOST HOLY, MAGICAL AND MYSTERIOUS WARRIOR-NINJA OF WUTAI, THE ONLY DAUGHTER OF LORD GODO AND FUTURE EMPRESS TO THE THRONE OF WUTAI, DOES NOT LIKE YOUR ATTITUDE, YOU ASSHOLE! SO IF YOU DON'T SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW, I'M NOT SURE IF I'LL BE ABLE TO STOP MYSELF FROM KILLING YOU RIGHT HERE!"

"HAH! I'd like to see you try, midget! You couldn't kill me if you had the one winged angel himself backing you up!" Cid remarked, slapping the shuriken away from his face.

"DON'T TRY ME! I'VE GOT A NICE AND JUICY ALL-CREATION WITH YOUR NAME ON IT, BASTARD! So you can just go and-"

"Will you both, PLEASE SHUT UP?" Tifa screamed, successfully stopping the ninja-girl's reply in it's tracks, "Don't you notice anything?" Cid and Yuffie both looked around for a moment,

"What the hell?, it ain't shaking anymore!" Cid said, poking the ground with the butt of his spear.

"Noo, Really? THANK you SO much, I REALLY need someone to point out the obvious, every time!"

"What are you-" Cid was cut short by the sound of a throbbing engine zooming up from behind. Tifa turned, a smile spread across her face,

"Cloud!" The Fenrir drove up alongside the Shera, and Cloud jumped off and ran to where the others were standing, Vincent a few steps behind him.

"Cid! Yuffie, Tifa, what happened?" Cloud asked, looking at the three people before him, he could see that everyone was a little scraped up and a little bit muddy, but that's all that was visible. Cid was about to explain, but Yuffie pushed him out of the way and started explaining herself, her arms flailing in huge, over dramatic gestures.

"So, I was standing out here, you know, waiting for you guys before I had to go in that ship, right? And all of a sudden, everything starts rumbling and shaking, like, not an earthquake, but close, so, I'm standing here, barely able to stay on my feet, trying to figure out what was causing it, so I looked over to where the old shinra ruins are, and I thought I had seen something weird, but I didn't get a long enough look, because that's when HIS FAT ASS crushed me!" Yuffie yelled, gesturing toward Cid, who was pulling a cigarette out from the pack that he always kept handy in his aviator goggles,

"Girl, I told you, WHAT TYPE OF GODDAMN IDIOT STANDS UNDER THE OPEN CARGO BAY ENTRANCE IN A FUCKING EARTHQUAKE?"

"WHAT TYPE OF RETARD JUMPS OUT OF THE CARGO BAY WITHOUT LOOKING FIRST?"

"I DIDN'T JUMP, I WAS PUSHED TRYING TO SAVE TIFA, YOU GODDAMN IDIOT!"

"WELL, YOU COULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING, LIKE 'LOOK OUT BELOW!' OR 'TIMMBERR!'"

"YOU THINK I HAD TIME?"

"WELL, YOU COULD HAVE TRIED, YOU STANKY OLD FART!"

"OH, YOU ARE SUCH A-"

"SHUT UP!" Cloud yelled, It was definitely clear these two wouldn't be resolving this on their own anytime soon, so Cloud stepped in to stop it himself. He grabbed Yuffie by the shoulders and shook her to get her attention, "Yuffie, what EXACTLY did you see?" at that question, Yuffie looked down at the ground and thought for a moment.

"Well, it's a little hard to say..." Cloud sighed and placed his hands on his waist

"Well, can you try?" Yuffie looked at Cloud, and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Y-you guys wouldn't believe me anyway, so..." she began to walk away, but a black glove came to rest one her shoulder, and she wheeled her head around to find herself gazing into Vincent's crimson eyes, his expression stern.

"Yuffie..." She looked away quickly, trying to hide the flush of frustration that had developed on her cheeks at having Vincent get that close to her face. Vincent brought his hand back to his side as Yuffie brought her hands up and placed them on the back of her head and sighed,

"Gawd, Vincy, do you still have to be so intense about everything?" Vincent chose not to reply, but to stare at Yuffie blankly instead. She growled in frustration.

"Awright, fine, I'll give it a try, but cut me some slack, ok?" Cloud nodded with impatience, and Yuffie grinned at having actually gotten a reaction. "Well, alright! now we're getting somewhere!" Her mocking expression faded and changed to a more serious one as she continued. "Well, remember when you fought Sephiroth two years ago on top of the old Shinra ruins?" Cloud nodded slowly, not liking where this was going at all, "Well, I only saw it for a second, but there were people on the building, well, kinda people, I guess, but, it was almost like they were fading, turning into shadows, I guess you could say, but I could still make most of it out, It looked like when you were on the building fighting sephiroth again, only..." Yuffie trailed off there, not sure what to say next,

"Only... what, Yuffie?" Cloud asked nervously, dreading the answer,

"Well, it was definitely Sephiroth, but it... it wasn't you fighting him... it was, well, I'm not sure, 'cuz I've only seen that picture of him before, but I think it was Zack."

"What do you mean, you 'Think' it was Zack?" Tifa asked, a shocked expression plastering her face.

"I-I wasn't saying for sure, I'm just saying that's who it MIGHT have been! I'm only basing this off of that damn blurry picture of you two and Sephiroth in Nibelheim!" Yuffie said, backing a few steps away from Tifa, who had walked right up into Yuffie's face after she had recounted what she'd seen, and having someone that close to her face made Yuffie a little uneasy.

"How could you have even seen something like that? there's no way! Cloud fought Sephiroth on top of that damn heap of rust two years ago, and if I'm not mistaken, Cloud beat Sephiroth so bad, there was barely anything left to go back to the lifestream with!" Cid said, gesturing to Cloud, who was staring in shock at what remained of the Shinra builiding.

"I-I don't know! I was just-" Vincent walked up to Cid and Tifa, blocking Yuffie from their badgering questions. He looked at the pilot coolly, and shifted his gaze between him and Tifa.

" Is it really so unlikely that it really was Sephiroth up there? I can't say that it was, but it could have actually been him, considering the fact that we had him beaten four years ago, yet he was resurrected just by a mere remnant of his cells merging with Jenova's head..." Cloud walked up to Vincent and nodded his agreement, then turned to meet the stares of his closest friends and fellow fighters of the Shinra war.

"Vincent's right, we can't be sure that Sephiroth didn't find some way to come back again, we all know what he's capable of, we've each seen it first hand... And, actually, Sephiroth's last words during that last fight were ' I will never be a memory'... I didn't understand what he meant back then, but I think I understand now... He was saying that he was just going to keep coming back, as many times as possible, until either he won, or this planet crumbled to dust. But, Yuffie, you have to be mistaken about seeing, Zack,"

Cloud paused, his voice choked a little when he said that name. After a few seconds, he continued

"Now, it's true that Zack had been injected with at least a small amount of Jenova's cells, all SOLDIERS were when they joined, but Zack wasn't a part of project JENOVA, so he wasn't injected with such a large amount like Sephiroth was, and he wasn't injected pre-birth either. And I know there were other SOLDIER 1st class besides Zack and Sephiroth, but from the little bit I've learned about them, they weren't as powerful as Sephiroth, and they weren't a part of project Jenova either." Cloud looked down pensively, a bit confused at all this new information. There were a few moments of silence, until Cid finally spoke up.

"So, are we just gonna sit around here like a bunch of gutted catfish or are we gonna get up and do something?"

"That's right, from what I can see, There wasn't any damage to Edge, and it doesn't appear as if there will be any more tremors." Vincent said, glancing at Cloud while he spoke.

"Yeah, and we've still gotta get to Cosmo Canyon, everyone's going to be waiting for us, and I'm never gonna hear the end of it from Reno if we're late!" Yuffie said, glancing at Cid and Vincent impatiently.

"It's Cloud's decision if we stay longer or go." Tifa spoke up softly. Everyone turned to their chosen leader expectantly, waiting for his answer. He turned to the Shera and nodded confidently.

"We should head out, there's no reason for us to delay any longer then we already have, so let's go."

_**A/N: YAY! First fanfic! I will post chapter two soon, so please R&R, thanks ^_^**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: YAY! CHAPTER TWO! I forgot to mention in the last chapter, this story will involve these pairings: YuffieXVincent, CloudXTifa, ZackXAerith, and maybe even CloudXAerith. thank you so much if your reading this story :)**_

Ch. 2: Strange sighting in Mideel.

"So, what the hell'd you call us all out here for, Red?"

Barret demanded, tapping his fingers on his gun-arm impatiently.

After they had all finally assembled in Cosmo Canyon, there had been a good hour of confusion before they had actually started the meeting, since Barret had been adamant about asking a thousand times if Tifa was SURE that Marlene and Denzel would be safe with Shelke back at the bar, and then Reno had accused Yuffie of stealing his thunder materia, even though Rude, Elena AND Tseng had all tried to assure him that they had seen him leave it in his locker back at their base when they had left, and since Yuffie had refused to apologize for a crime she didn't commit, Reno completely lost it ended up taking the combined strength of Rude, Tseng, and Cloud to keep the furious red-haired man from jumping Yuffie and pin him down while Vincent tied him to a chair.

Elena later apologized for Reno's behavior, explaining that he had been drinking that morning.

After things had finally calmed down some, everyone had gathered around the fire pit in the center of the small village.

The Turks, with Reno still tied to his chair, had been the last one to walk over and place himself next to the glowing embers of the fire, glowing with the same intensity as the little flame that resided on the tip of his tail.

Barret had been the first to ask the question that everyone had been thinking, and at his question, Nanaki raised his large head and gazed at everyone gathered around the fire. He was a large, very lion-like creature, his fur a bright red color, and his mane a deep crimson. On his back left thigh, he had a tattoo of the roman numeral 13. His one good eye glimmering with a vast amount of intelligence and knowledge, the right eye had been left scarred and mangled years ago.  
He was Nanaki.  
Son of brave Seto.  
Protector of Cosmo Canyon.  
Who had at one time years ago been captured by the horridly evil professor Hojo, and been codenamed 'Red XIII.'  
One of the Heroes of the Shinra war, and last living member of his species. He now held the knowledge his late adopted grandfather, Bugenhagen had once held. And he used this knowledge to listen to the planet, as his grandfather had, and it was because of this, of what he had heard the planet say, that he had called everyone together.

"The planet is frightened." He said, his tail twitching slightly with agitation. "Whenever I listen to her, she is scared. Of what, though, I can't say for sure, but there are strange incidences happening all over the world at this time that could be a clue." Tseng walked over to Nanaki to confirm this information.

"There have been strange sightings in certain areas all over the world, accounts have come in from Junon, The Bone Village, Kalm, and even in Nibelheim. And all the explanations of these 'sightings' are the same: The earth will begin rumbling, and then a shadowy outline of a man with black hair will appear. Every time, the image disappears after a few moments, and each report accounts that all of what they can see is blurry and semi-transparent." Yuffie jumped up when she heard this,

"Hey! That's just like what happened in Edge!" She yelled, Tseng and Nanaki turned to her expectantly.

"You saw something too?" Nanaki asked. Yuffie nodded her head vigorously,

"Before we left Edge, I was standing outside the airship, and all of a sudden, the earth began rumbling, and shaking and stuff, and I just happened to look at the old Shinra building, and there were people up there, just like you described, blurry and and see-through and stuff, but it was slightly different. They were fighting, in the EXACT way that Cloud had fought Sephiroth two years ago, and it actually WAS Sephiroth! But the other guy wasn't Cloud, I thought it was Zack, cuz' he had spiky black hair, Y'know?" This caught everyone by surprise, even Reno looked up from his grumbling with eyes widened in shock. the only ones who didn't react to much were Tifa, Cid, and Cloud, since they already knew this, and Vincent, though he wouldn't have reacted much even if he hadn't heard it already. Tseng composed himself, and looked at Cloud with a blank expression on his face.

"Zack? is that even possible?" Cloud looked down and shrugged,

"I wouldn't know, but whatever this thing is, I guess we've gotta figure it out, right?" Nanaki nodded, his earrings jingling against the beads in his mane.

"Yes. Whatever this is, it's too big for me, and I'm no leader," Nanaki said, glancing at Cloud, who had long ago been named their leader in times of crisis. "That's why I called all of you here, I'm positive that we are able to figure this out together."

"It's not going to be easy, though, these sightings are appearing at random times, in random places, being able to catch one is going to be difficult..." Tseng said with a sigh. Barret threw his arms into the air with frustration at this piece of information,

"Then why the hell are we here if there ain't nothing we can do?" he asked. Nanaki smiled at his old friends' impatience,

"I was thinking that it has something to do with the lifestream, and if there is something wrong with the planet, it would be a good place to check," Nanaki said, "And whatever is happening, it would be safer if it was all of us together, and I can't help but feel like the Turks could help us too. But before we do anything," Nanaki paused and turned to Vincent expectantly, "We need to know exactly what it is you saw, Vincent, and figure out what it has to do with all this." Vincent closed his eyes as he spoke, recounting what had happened,

"A year ago, after I defeated Omega, I had watched Vice's body fall through the ruins and land at the bottom of one of the natural occurring materia caves. I had decided to leave it where it rest. But, a few weeks ago, I went to Lucrecia's cave, and something was... wrong... the energy that usually courses through the crystals in her cave was dimmer, slower, and much weaker, so I decided to check if the other caves were the same. When I got to the one where Vice's body should have laid, it was gone, and all the energy that had existed in that cave was drained completely... and... there was one other thing wrong in that cave... there was a strange crystal formation, similar to the one that holds Lucrecia, but whatever had been contained there had broken free and flown away..." Cloud looked at Vincent sharply, a mysterious expression in his face,

"'Flown away'?" He asked sceptically, and Vincent held up the proof: A large black feather, just like, "Sephiroth..." Cloud said. "So it is him..."

"You can't say that for sure, Cloud." Vincent said, putting the feather back in his pocket. "It could have been any number of things, don't just jump to the worst case scenario." Yuffie scratched her head and fidgeted, getting bored at just sitting there,

"But I don't get it, if that's all you did, how come you were gone so long?" She asked impatiently. Vincent just stared at her blankly for a moment before answering,

"You can't exactly expect me to take a short time when I'm walking. I can't very easily fly anywhere anymore, and the detour to the Chocobo ranch would have just taken more of my time."

"But it does involve the Lifestream, so that's what we need to do next." Nanaki said, jumping back to the subject at hand, his tail swishing calmly from side to side.  
Barret scratched at his beard as he spoke.

"The lifestream? then, that would mean we're going to-" Cloud cut Barret off, a dark expression on his face.

"Mideel."

(***)

"Cid, can't you fly this heaping bucket of screws any faster?" Cait Sith whined, he was perched on Nanaki's head, and had grown bored of pestering Yuffie, who had flopped over in the corner of the control room with a bucket once the airship had taken off. Cid sighed and pulled out another cigarette as he ignored the robotic cats' complaining, So Barret, who was leaning against the wall doing maintenence on his robotic hand/gun, took it upon himself to answer Cait sith.

"We've only been flyin' two hours, Foo! Mideel is nearly on the other side of the planet from Cosmo Canyon, is' gonna take at least a few more hours to get there , so jus' be glad we ain't in that slow-ass highwind anymore!" Cid snapped his head toward Barret,

"Hey! Don't insult that ship! That ship was my baby! And if it ever flew slow, it was just cuz it had ta carry YER fat-ass!" Cid yelled, pointing at Barret, who waved a hand at Cid, brushing of his insults as if they were flies. Then, Barret turned to Cloud, who had his back to everyone as he gazed out the window at the land that flew by underneath the Shera.

"Yo, Spiky! you got any idea what we're trying to find?" After a moment, Cloud turned and looked at everyone, Barret still leaning against the wall, Yuffie splayed in the corner, hurling into her bucket, Cid at the controls, Nanaki laying down at Tifa's feet, Cait Sith still sitting on his shoulder's in boredom, and Vincent, standing next to the controls with his arms folded over his chest. Then there were the Turks, Tseng was standing over by the other side of the window where Tifa was, and Rude and Elena were standing with arms crossed over Reno, who had laid down in the corner opposite to Yuffie, holding an ice pack to his forehead to ease the pain of the hangover that was forming. Cloud looked at them all for a moment, friends and allies, even former enemies, all gathered together again to see to the planets' crisis. He turned and looked out the window again,

"I wish I knew, but whatever it is that's happening here, all we know is that it probably has something to do with the lifestream." ' and Sephiroth' Cloud said, silently adding the rest, his mind swimming with so many emotions and thoughts that he pointedly kept off his face to avoid worrying anyone.

Shock, worry, doubt, fear, hope, and a deep sorrow all whirled through his mind at the same time, like a whirlpool, threatening to suck him down to the depths and crush him with the weight of his own worries, all this brought upon by the horrible memories that would creep into his mind and become nightmares as he slept.

He remembered them all, every single one too vividly: every smell, every sight, every sound, every texture, all burned in his mind like angry, twisted beasts, waiting to strike with their horrible embrace.

He remembered, all to well, the burning of Nibelheim, the biting flames lapping at him tauntingly, learning it was Sephiroth's doing, watching his own house burn to the ground, and then Sephiroth himself, a twisted smile one his face, as he turned away from Cloud into the flames, heading to the reactor...

He remembered the reactor, running in just in time to see Zack, flung with huge force onto one of the mako-filled chambers, he remembered running to Tifa's limp, motionless form, picking up the buster sword for the first time, running up the ramp to Sephiroth, who's back was turned, unsuspecting, and then... that horrible moment of truth: the feeling of sword cutting through the clothing, flesh, and muscle of his hero, and the fight that ensued, ending with Sephiroth plummeting into the lifestream, leaving Cloud bleeding and horrified, to finally collapse with blood loss...

And then, the moment his eyes opened once more to find Zack's own devastatingly familiar ones just above him, and watching in horror, unable to move, as the infantrymen shot his closest friend to death...

And then, that one memory that burned in Clouds' mind the fiercest, and brought on that deep, gut-wrenching sorrow that had burned and writhed in his soul for so long: being unable to move his limbs, only able to watch in horror as Sephiroth came down on the altar, thrusting his sword through the unsuspecting chest of the flower girl, the horror as he realized Aerith was gone... forever.

Even if the feelings he had felt for her may had only been because of Zack's memories and feelings, Cloud still had loved her nonetheless. Suddenly, a soft hand rested firmly around Clouds wrist, pulling him away from his memories, and he turned to find himself staring into Tifa's soft brown eyes, a worried expression on her face,

"Cloud..." Only then, did Cloud realize he was trembling from the horrible memories he had visited, and he scrambled to calm himself down before he worried Tifa any more, but he found it exceedingly difficult.

Tifa grabbed his shoulders and turned him to face her, a gentle smile on her face, "Cloud, it's okay, whatever happens, we'll all be there to back you up, every step of the way, no matter what. Your not alone, try to remember that, okay?" she said softly, and Cloud found he had to look away from her gentle eyes, he didn't deserve her loving gaze, after all that had happened in the past four years, how could she still love him so much?

She had never blamed him for any of the things that had happened to them, none of them blamed him, not even Aerith had blamed him, he had let go of the blame for many things that had happened in the past years, but as he was slowly realizing, he still blamed himself for a lot, and he still doubted his ability to protect anyone if Sephiroth was involved, and the thought of any one of them getting hurt because of him frightened him.

The last time Clouds' and Sephiroths' swords' had clashed, Cloud didn't have to worry about Sephiroth worming into his head and make him hurt the ones he loved, because they had let him fight that battle alone, and it wasn't truly the full, complete Sephiroth they had fought four years ago, he had good timing to thank for that, he had been nothing but a mere ghost of Sephiroth, having been created by a remnant and Jenova's cells, he did posses most, but not all, of the mental abilities the real Sephiroth had, but if the battle would have lasted any longer, he would have completed the transformation process, and that would have been a harder battle.

But this... it could be that he was coming back full force, with power enough to even scare the planet, and shake her right to her core.

How could Cloud stand up to such power?

'Snap out of it, you idiot!' He thought to himself, ' You've beaten him twice before, and if he comes back, you'll just do it again!'

Reno, who was still holding the icepack to his head, piped in.

"What's this all gotta do with Zack? It doesn't make sense why people are seeing him, Sephiroth I could almost see possible, because of the whole 'Jenova reunion' thingy, but Zack, that just doesn't make any sense at all!" Cloud turned and realized everyone had been watching him, and he quickly regained his composure and put on his leader face as he stepped away from Tifa's arms and turned to Reno,

"Like I'd know, but I guess we'll figure it out when we get to Mideel, right?" Reno was about to reply, when a tremor tore through the ship, knocking everyone to the ground, except Cid, who had managed to stay standing,

"Goddammit, Cid! Don't you know how to drive this Fucking thing right?" Reno yelled angrily, as he climbed to his feet. Cid ignored him as he flicked different switches and buttons on the control panel.

"Shit! something's attacking the ship!" Cloud immediately pulled out three of the five swords he had grabbed from the Fenrir and attached them together,

"Whatever it is, it's on the roof, Cloud!" Cid yelled, and Cloud ran out of the cockpit, stopping for a moment to bark out a few orders to everyone,

"Alright, Cid, don't stop flying, keep her upright! Vincent, Nanaki, Cait, you Come with me, Tifa, you and Barret make sure nothing gets in here, let's go! Oh, and Cid, whatever you do, don't throw us off the roof, alright?" Cloud didn't stay long enough to see Cid nod. He ran down the hallway toward the ladder leading onto the roof, Vincent and Nanaki, with Cait on his shoulders, close behind.

(***)

Cloud climbed up the ladder, threw open the hatch leading to the roof of the massive airship, and climbed cautiously onto the shiny, slick metal surface of the airship's hull, being careful to hunker low enough to the metal so as not to go flying of the ship and splat on the ground that was thousands of feet below them. Vincent, Nanaki, and Cait climbed up behind Cloud, Vincent's unnatural balance allowing him to stand upright without being flung through the air. Cloud looked around the shining expanse of metal, trying to pinpoint the source of the attacks, but he saw nothing. Nothing at all.

"Nanaki," He called over the roar of the ship's engines, and the flush of wind whipping over them, "Can you tell where it is?" Nanaki stalked over to Cloud's side, and stuck his snout into the air, testing the wind current,

"There are three of them, and they're close."

"SSSKKREEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHH-!"

(***)

"What was that?" Yuffie asked, jumping to her feet at the ghastly screeching sound. Cid was furiously pressing buttons and pulling levers and switches to keep the airship flying while an unseen battle raged on above,

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"I don't like the sound of that," Yuffie said, she turned to Cid, " I'm gonna go see if I can help up there!" Cid gave a sharp nod, and Yuffie ran off to join the fray.

(***)

"HYAAGH!" The beast screeched as Vincent cocked his gun and fired three more rounds of ammo into its face and chest, but it still wouldn't die. Vincent took a step back and Nanaki shot forth and attacked, ripping a large chunk of black flesh from the creatures hazy ebony skin, sending black spray into the air.

It swung its great reptilian head and gnashed its razor sharp teeth, spraying venomous spittle onto the airships hull. The spots where the spittle made contact with the sleek metal immediately began giving off white smoke, then bubbled and sizzled, before finally melting away a few inches of the ships thick, reinforced hull. The giant beast swung its massive clawed arm and caught Nanaki in the rib cage, sending him flying toward the edge of the ship to land in a crumpled, lifeless heap, mere inches from falling to his death.

Yuffie popped her head out of the hatch just in time to see Nanaki land, and Cloud run toward the Dragon-like monster, sword ablaze with fire-magic as he brought the blade down on the monsters' head, slicing it cleanly in half and spraying acidic blood over the side of the ship.

"Shit...!" Yuffie muttered, pulling out her shuriken and running onto the airship. "CLOUD! WHAT'S GOING ON? WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?"

She called, over the roar of the wind. Cloud turned to her and shrugged, calling back

"LOOKS LIKE SOME KIND OF DRAGON-THING! GUESS WE FLEW TO CLOSE TO THEIR CAVE AND THEY MISTOOK US FOR LUNCH!"

He ran over to the limp form of Nanaki, pulling a pheonix down out of his pouch and giving it to the red lion-creature.

Nanaki stood shakily, shaking his mane.

"CLOUD! BEHIND YOU!"

Cloud turned just in time to see a black claw flying towards him. A flash of white pain assailed him, and the world turned black.

(***)


End file.
